Designated tribunal to hear NSCN(K) case on Jan 14 in Delhi

Kohima: The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal set up by the Centre will hear the case of NSCN(K) having been declared an unlawful association later this month at Delhi High Court, the state government has said.

The registrar of the tribunal has asked NSCN(K) to appear before it through a duly-authorised person on January 14 at 3 PM in Delhi High Court for further proceedings, the release informed here last night.

The Centre had set up the tribunal – comprising Justice Najmi Waziri, a judge of Delhi High Court, for adjudicating whether or not there is sufficient cause for declaring NSCN(K) an unlawful association under sub-section (1) of Section 3 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

The Centre on September 16 last had declared the outfit as an unlawful organisation for a period of five years under Unlawful Activities (Prevention), Act, 1967. NSCN(K) had abrogated the 14-year-old ceasefire with the Centre on March 27 last year and carried out several attacks on security forces within Nagaland and outside, leading to the death of more than 25 personnel since May, 2015.

A split took place within NSCN(K) after the faction led by SS Khaplang abrogated the 14-year-old truce. That led to the creation of a new faction, NSCN-Reformation, by expelled senior NSCN(K) leaders P Tikhak and Wangtin Naga.

The signing of a peace accord in 2015 between the Centre and the NSCN-IM brought a ray of hope for an early resolution to the decades-old Naga political issue.